Social Enterprise Southwest(SESW) promotes the flourishing of social enterprise in Southwestern Ontario, offering education, coaching and connections to investors for enterprises interested in achieving social or environmental outcomes and maximizing revenue.

Our 2018 Calendar includes sessions on Corporate Social Responsibility, Diversity and Inclusion, Digital Storytelling, United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and Social Enterprise Development and more.

SESW coaches provide support to for-profit, nonprofit and cooperative social enterprises at all stages of development, from idea to growth. Through the SESW partnership, coaching services are available across Southwestern Ontario

Looking for money to start or grow your social enterprise? Serving Southwestern Ontario, VERGE Capital connects local caring investors with local enterprises that have a social or environmental mission at their core.

My Organization Supports Entrepreneurs and Enterprises

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Stories

SESW teamed up with B corp rTraction to deliver interactive workshops on Digital Storytelling to social enterprises, nonprofits and businesses across the region. This week we feature the compelling stories of enterprises from Waterloo Region!

SESW teamed up with B corp rTraction to deliver interactive workshops on Digital Storytelling to social enterprises, nonprofits and businesses across the region. This week we feature the compelling stories of enterprises from Huron County and Goderich!

SESW teamed up with B corp rTraction to deliver interactive workshops on Digital Storytelling to social enterprises, nonprofits and businesses across the region. This week we feature the compelling stories of enterprises from Windsor!

SESW teamed up with B corp rTraction to deliver interactive workshops on Digital Storytelling to social enterprises, nonprofits and businesses across the region. This week we feature the compelling stories of enterprises from St. Catharines!

The Eco Market pitch competition is an annual event in Kitchener-Waterloo that aims to bridge the gap for funding faced by green and social enterprises in the community. Learn more about this year’s participants!

SESW teamed up with B corp rTraction to deliver interactive workshops on Digital Storytelling to social enterprises, nonprofits and businesses across the region. This week we feature the compelling stories of London, Ontario’s Skilled Accents, Ill At Will, Cyber Smart Canada and B13!

Meet Selina Gabriele, social innovator and computer science graduate working out of EPICentre at University of Windsor. Gabriele is the designer of a real-time speech transcription tool called AidaNote that is intended to help hearing-impaired students with their academic pursuits.

The latest SESW podcast showcases for-profits and nonprofits in our region exploring the principles of social enterprise in their work, featuring London Brewing Co-operative, Southridge Jam Co, and Social Enterprise Niagara.

Social Enterprise Southwest has made socially- and environmentally-responsible holiday gift shopping easy this year with Meaningful Markets happening in Niagara, London and Huron County! Learn more about what we have in store this season!

SESW & The Humanos Institute hosted storytelling workshops across the region to help social entrepreneurs and enterprises communicate their positive impact. Read some of the impactful stories resulting from these sessions!

Introducing the SESW Podcast series, and its inaugural episode entitled The Rising Stars of Social Enterprise (part 1). Tune in to discover the remarkable impact of six brilliant social entrepreneurs from our region!

If you’ve been thinking about starting a co-operative business, now’s the time to begin the journey! Read on to learn about the exciting, major opportunities available in our region to explore and develop a co-op.

Get inspired by KW Library of Things, a social enterprise and community space that empowers and connects local communities, creates jobs for people facing employment barriers, and diverts waste from landfills.

The Meaningful Market is a collection of local social enterprises, both nonprofit & for-profit, selling presents whose proceeds support social or environmental impact in our community. Learn more about how you can participate as a vendor.

Frank Wang, a business and medical science student, embarked on a 10-week social enterprise & social finance journey at Pillar. Learn about his exploration and reimagining of how we define and understand impact in the lexicon of social enterprise.

VERGE Capital’s Andre Vashist speaks with ON Social Impact about this question, as well as the importance of stories in measuring impact, and the exciting opportunities in impact investing to shift traditional notions of growth to a more inclusive and sustainable vision.

Many entrepreneurs have decided that it’s not enough to offer a solution to a consumer problem to make money. Instead, they set out to solve a problem and have a positive social or environmental impact

Martha Powell, President and CEO of the London Community Foundation, explains the crucial role community foundations play in supporting positive community impact, and the vital importance of localizing the UN SDGs.

Programming

Join the many events that we organize across Southwestern Ontario

Partners

Social Enterprise Southwest (SESW) is a program of Pillar Nonprofit Network, implemented in collaboration with EPICentre at University of Windsor, Huron Small Business Enterprise Centre, Waterloo Region Small Business Centre and Innovate Niagara.